


carry you to the dawn

by Pawprinter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, The rating is for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28064643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/pseuds/Pawprinter
Summary: A ghost's guide to breaking your ghost friend out of ghost prison.or: Alex and Willie see each other for the first time after the Orpheum.
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 53
Kudos: 319





	carry you to the dawn

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the song "Into the Storm" by Banners. The song has nothing to do with this fic, but the lyric is pretty and I vibe.
> 
> This fic is written to celebrate me hitting 1.5k followers over on Tumblr! Shout out to Tumblr user phanhowell for this request: "pls can you write the willex reunion. can be angsty or fluffy whatever you want." This idea has been floating around my head for 3 months and I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to write it. so. thank you.
> 
> Note: this fic is rated teen for language
> 
> Enjoy!

When his gaze caught sight of him across the room, the breath rushed out of his chest.

Alex’s grip tightened on Reggie and Luke’s sleeves to balance himself. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t  _ think.  _

Suddenly, the world around them didn’t matter anymore. The lifers at their table, equally oblivious to them hiding only feet behind them as they were to the malicious intent of the club; the Hollywood Ghost Club performers flowing across the stage in a well-practiced dance; Caleb at the helm of it all—

It didn’t matter.

Not the thrum of the bass so loud that it rattled his chest, not the pit of dread weighing him down, not the helpless and  _ hopeless  _ feeling that had been gnawing at his soul ever since the day he lost him.

It. Didn’t. Matter.

Because he was here.

_ He was right here. _

Willie.

Alex’s gaze never pulled away from his — he couldn’t, not when he had been  _ so sure he had lost him —  _ not when he was  _ so scared  _ that he was  _ still  _ going to lose him. He was almost too scared to even  _ blink,  _ out of fear of him fading away.

But he didn’t.

Because he was here.

_ He was really here. _

Alex’s thoughts swirled as he watched Willie from his hiding spot. Luke was saying something, but  _ did that matter either?  _ Did  _ anything  _ matter beyond the fact that Willie was  _ alive  _ and that they were only separated by mere feet?

(Except, right now, those feet felt like miles.)

Those feet between them felt as though they were impossible to cross — especially when Willie was on stage, and he was behind a potted plant, and  _ Caleb was between them, and— _

Alex never understood ‘so close, yet so far’ until this very moment. Not even their brush with fame and death had left him feeling like this; like there was something  _ just  _ at the tips of his fingers — something he couldn’t fully grasp.

Willie should have blended in on stage. He wore the familiar pink suit of Caleb’s dancers and the choreography matched the other performers  _ perfectly,  _ yet— 

He didn’t blend in. 

Alex could never see how he  _ could have blended in,  _ not when he was stunning enough to make his undead heart skip several beats, not when his soul was so bright — as if he was a flash of light in the dark —  _ as if he was the full moon in the night sky.  _

He couldn’t have simply been  _ just  _ one of the dancers when he demanded so much attention.

Even if Alex wasn’t so shocked to see him, he doubted he’d ever be able to look away from him.

“Wow,” Reggie breathed, “he’s good. Like…  _ really  _ good.”

Alex had to agree. Maybe Caleb wanted him to be a background dancer in his shows, but how could he be anything but the star?

“Hey, uh… Alex?” Luke nudged his arm. “He looks  _ really  _ happy out there. Are you sure—”

He didn’t want Luke to finish his sentence. His gaze shot to his, his eyes burning with intensity and his jaw set.

“Something’s wrong,” he hissed. “I… I can  _ feel  _ it. And he wouldn’t have just  _ abandoned  _ me like that.” 

Alex’s eyes darted back to Willie’s form and his heart lurched. Luke was telling the truth; he did look happy — but  _ he  _ was telling the truth too; he could  _ feel it in his soul  _ that something was wrong here.

“We need a plan,” Alex continued. Before either of the guys could speak, he said, “A plan that involves more than ‘saving him,’ alright?” Reggie’s mouth fell shut. “This is serious. There’s a million things that can go wrong, and—”

“And we only need one thing to go right,” Luke jumped in. He squeezed Alex’s forearm reassuringly. “We know. We know what’s at stake here, man.”

“Yeah, and we got your back.” Reggie had never looked so serious in his life — or death. That should’ve brought some comfort to Alex, but it didn’t. If anything, it made his blood turn to ice. 

_ This was serious.  _

They were back in the Hollywood Ghost Club, nearly face-to-face with the man that almost murdered them  _ again,  _ and they were risking it all. They didn’t know how much danger they were in by just being here because,  _ yeah,  _ they weren’t going to take those stamps again — but what else could Caleb do?

_ All for Willie. _

(He’d do this and more for Willie.)

“Alright. A plan. Let’s think.” Luke sunk back down behind the potted plants, pulling Alex and Reggie along with him. Alex was tempted to peer around the pot to keep an eye on Willie, but— “It’s fine,” Luke said, as if he could read Alex’s mind. “As long as they’re performing, we know he’ll be okay.”

“Thank god Caleb is in love with the sound of his voice, huh?” Reggie quipped. “The man could sing for hours.”

“Yeah, well, with a voice like his, I’d sing for hours too.”

“You already  _ do that,  _ Luke.”

“I mean, yeah, my voice isn’t half bad, but  _ his  _ is just—”

Reggie pulled a face. “Can we  _ not  _ compliment the evil man who tried to kill us? That’s just weird.”

Alex couldn’t take it anymore. He snuck a glance around the plant and—  _ yep,  _ Willie was still on stage performing. He was filled with a fleeting sense of relief because  _ he was here, he was alive, and he was okay. _

There were days where Alex wasn’t sure about even the simplest of those.

_ He didn’t know if he was alive or not. _

The last time they saw each other had been outside the Orpheum, half a day before what was meant to be their final show. Willie had risked  _ everything  _ to help them. When Alex hadn’t heard from him since, he feared the worst.

He feared, and worried, and dreaded, and—

_ Willie was okay. _

Willie was okay, and Alex was going to make sure he  _ stayed  _ that way.

“Lucky for you, Julie showed me the new  _ James Bond  _ movies last weekend, so… Nobody worry; I have a plan.” Alex was very much worried. Reggie didn’t seem deterred. “All good heist movies have a distraction.”

“Right,” Luke said slowly. “A distraction… A distraction with  _ what, _ exactly?

Reggie turned to him. “Have anything useful in your fanny pack, Alex?”

“Unless someone here’s in anaphylactic shock… no.”

“What if we—”

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to  _ say.” _

“Nothing you can say in response to that is good.”

“Hey. Words  _ hurt.  _ You don’t—”

“Okay, wait,” Luke said, interrupting whatever Reggie was going to say. “Circling back to Reggie’s plan; let’s just say we somehow manage to find a good distraction —  _ then what?  _ We grab Willie and go? It’s not like we have a car running outside, man.”

“You’re so funny,” Reggie said, completely deadpan. “You forget that we’re  _ ghosts.  _ We can literally just… poof outta here. Problem solved.”

Alex rubbed his forehead and tried to keep his hands from shaking. “We can poof out, but  _ Willie  _ can’t. If he could, he would’ve been out of here a long time ago.” 

Again, he couldn’t take it. Alex peered over the potted plant, desperately needing to see him.

_ He needed to get to him. _

The urge to forget it all — the plans, the distractions, the worries — and just  _ run  _ to Willie was  _ so strong  _ that it was difficult to think around it. 

He wanted to grab Willie’s hand and never let go. He wanted to press his nose against his shoulder, and feel his warmth under his palms, and hear his smile in his voice  _ right then. _

Alex didn’t think he took many things for granted — especially not after they died. He knew the value of the simple things, he knew that there might not always be another tomorrow, he knew that every person’s time in this world was only temporary.

He knew, he knew, he knew—

And yet, he still took things for granted.

He took Willie’s free smiles for granted. He took the way that he’d reach for his hand for granted. He took their  _ future together  _ for granted — he always assumed they’d just  _ get one,  _ that they’d always have tomorrow, that he’d be able to hug him or love him the next day, but—

These weeks apart — these weeks since the Orpheum — they reminded him how  _ wrong  _ he was to think like this.

Now, all he wanted to do was  _ get to him  _ and never take a second for granted again.

“Alright. Distraction. Grab. Go. Right?” Alex said. He rejoined his ghostly bandmates on the ground, his heart beating wildly in his chest. “I was hoping for something a little more thought out than that, but—”

“Wait,” Luke said quickly. The way Luke looked at him made Alex’s heart stop in his chest. A horrible feeling rose up. Why was he looking at him in pity? Why was he— “We can’t get him. Not today.”

The world came to a screeching halt.

He felt sick.

_ No. _

_ “What?”  _ There was a horrible pause. Alex’s gaze flickered between Luke and Reggie and,  _ god,  _ they were both wearing the same sad expression. “No. No, absolutely not, we need—”

“We need to break Caleb’s hold on him,” Luke continued, his voice soothing and yet unyielding. He knew Luke, and he knew he already made up his mind. 

Alex felt like he was drowning.

“We will, as soon as he’s out of here and  _ safe,”  _ he argued. “I… I can’t just  _ leave  _ him here. I  _ won’t.  _ I won’t walk away.”

Luke reached for his arm. Alex yanked out of his grip.

His chest was rising and falling rapidly. His thoughts were spinning out of control. Those same feelings of being helpless and hopeless were back, and it was pushing Alex further and further—

“Fine,” he said, his voice tight and his chest constricting. “If you guys don’t want to help, fine, I’ll do it myself, but—”

“What? Dude. We want to help.” Reggie looked  _ hurt  _ by Alex’s words, and it made him falter.

“We know how much he means to you,” Luke continued, “of course we want to help. We’re going to get him out of here —  _ we have to  _ — but we have to do this right.”

Alex was shaking. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it — not when Willie was  _ so close  _ — not when he could get to him if he just stood up and—

“He won’t be safe as long as Caleb owns his soul,” Luke insisted. “If we grab him and go, we don’t know what’ll happen. What happens when Caleb finds out he’s gone? That might put him in even more danger.”

He froze.

_ No. No, no, no, no— _

Alex hated to admit it, but Luke was right.

But he couldn’t just  _ go.  _ He couldn’t walk out of here  _ knowing  _ that Willie was still inside, knowing that he left him behind.

“You’re not,” Luke told him as soon as he was able to put his thoughts into words. “I promise you, Alex, you’re not leaving him behind. We’re going to be back. We just need to  _ plan,  _ otherwise, we’re all going to be in danger.”

“Yeah, man,” Reggie assured him. “Willie would want you to be safe. I mean, he did risk a lot to make sure you had the chance to play the Orpheum. He’d understand.”

Willie might understand, but did Alex? Could Alex be okay with this — with leaving him behind, even though he knew he was coming back?

He already knew that answer.

“Fine,” he said, the word feeling heavier than it should’ve. “But…  _ I can’t just go.  _ I can’t just— I have to see him. I have to  _ talk  _ to him at least. He doesn’t even know that I’m still— that he— that  _ I—” _

He couldn’t finish.

No matter how he tried to put it,  _ he couldn’t get the words out. _

He didn’t have to though, not with Luke and Reggie. They knew what the others were thinking without needing to say it out loud.

(Really, how could they not when they spent more time together than apart in both life and death.)

“I get it,” Luke told him.

“We got this,” Reggie said. “Luke and I will make a distraction and you get to Willie, okay?” He paused. “Just… make it quick. Please. We need to get out of here before they catch on. If we die in here tonight, Julie will find a way to kill us — permanently.”

“Reassuring words,” Alex muttered.

Luke grinned. “We’ll all be  _ fine.  _ Plus, I already have a plan. Reggie, do you remember the time that we flushed those socks during assembly?”

“And we flooded the whole gym?” Reggie couldn’t hide his smile. “Yeah, man, of course I remember that.”

“Sweet. What’s the odds that we’re able to replicate that with a few of those fancy napkins?”

“Say less.”

Alex was barely paying attention to them. He was craning his neck to try and spot Willie, but most of the dancers were off stage and the ones that remained were not him. Even in the poor lighting and through the smoke, Alex could tell —  _ none of them were Willie.  _ He’d be able to recognize him by the slope of his shoulders, or from the way he carried himself, or from the way he turned his head.

_ But he wasn’t out there,  _ and that made Alex’s blood run cold.

Luke gripped both of their shoulders. “Alright, boys. We’ll come get you in five, okay? Alex, you good? You’re going to stay safe?” He nodded absentmindedly. “I’m serious, Lex, if you’re not ready in five minutes—”

“I’ll be ready,” he promised.

“And you’re going to be safe? You’re not going to, I donno, punch Caleb in the face or something?”

_ “Luke,”  _ Alex hissed, “go flood the bathroom already. I’m dying over here.”

“Right. Bathroom. Flooding. Napkins. Reggie, let’s go.”

With one final looked shared between the three of them, they split. Luke and Reggie crept around the potted plant and hightailed it towards the bathroom, leaving Alex alone.

_ Alone with his thoughts. _

That was never a good thing, especially not when his heart was pounding so heavily that he could feel the blood rushing through his head, and especially not when he was only  _ feet  _ away from Willie and unable to do anything about it.

He hated that he was going to have to leave him.

_ But Luke was right.  _ They needed a better plan than just hoping Caleb wouldn’t retaliate if they helped Willie get out. They needed to break Caleb’s hold on him, and that meant—

_ They had to free Willie’s soul. _

A task none of them knew how to do.

The only way they got knowledge about the ghost world was through Willie. He was the one who told them about the true intentions of Caleb’s stamp; he told them about crossing over and unfinished business; he told them that Caleb could own and burn souls.

He didn’t know how to help and now  _ he had to say goodbye. _

Again.

Alex didn’t have time to spiral about the fact that this would be their second goodbye after only knowing each other for a few weeks because—

_ Luke and Reggie were right on time. _

It started out as a wave of chatter through the crowd of the lifters. Quickly, chaos descended on the club. There was a  _ gushing  _ sound from the hallway. People were fleeing the back rows of tables — some soaking wet.

That definitely couldn’t have been caused by flushing a few napkins, could it? Alex absentmindedly wondered what Luke and Reggie did to  _ destroy  _ the toilets.

He didn’t have time to think about it for too long though.

_ It was time to move. _

Alex jumped into the moving crowd and ducked his head, allowing himself to be tugged along as the lifers made their way towards the front of the room. If he wasn’t so stressed, Caleb’s distressed expression probably would’ve been funny — and so would’ve his disgusted sound he made right into the mic when he realized what was happening.

But he was stressed.

_ He was so very freaking stressed. _

It was when the house lights were turned on that Alex broke from the crowd and  _ sprinted  _ towards the backstage. He was hit with the strongest sense of déjà vu as he made his way past the right side of the stage; only weeks ago, he stood in this very spot, unable to breathe from how  _ wrong  _ everything was, and from his fear that they’d be stuck in Caleb’s band forever, and his distress over the possibility of never seeing Julie again.

And, now, he was experiencing the same thing.

_ He couldn’t breathe. _

He was frantic as he moved, knowing that each second passing by was a second wasted and a second closer to being discovered by Caleb. 

Chaos was raging off-stage. Performers were rushing around, all trying to anticipate how the show would roll with this one. He got a mouth full of feathers when he was bumped into one of the costume carts. Ghosts were poofing around the space sporadically and frantically, and his head was spinning, and—

_ Willie. _

He needed to find Willie.

His gaze jumped from person to person, his heart in his throat and his hands shaking and—

_ God, he needed to find Willie. _

Alex moved forward, still clinging to the shadows and avoiding drawing too much attention to himself. All he wanted to do was run through the centre of the room, calling out Willie’s name, without a single care for who saw him.

_ But he couldn’t. _

He couldn’t because  _ Luke was right.  _ Luke was right, and he was not going to be the one to put Willie in even more danger than he already was in.

Keeping track of time was something he struggled with ever since he came back as a ghost, but  _ he knew  _ he was running out of it — and  _ quickly. _

He needed to find Willie.

He needed to find Willie and tell him that—

(What was he going to tell him?)

He needed to tell him exactly what was on his mind — screw fear, and screw his worries, and screw  _ everything  _ — he needed to tell him the truth.

Alex needed to come clean.

Alex needed to—

_ There. _

He caught sight of Willie near a dimly lit staircase, his back to him and his head cradled in his hands. He was oblivious to the chaos raging around him, just as he was oblivious to Alex standing only mere feet away.

The wind was knocked from Alex’s lungs.

For a moment, he stood there — just  _ staring at him. _

He couldn’t see his face, but Alex knew it was him — he knew from the way his shoulders moved with each breath and from the way his fingers were brushing through his hair. He’d admired Willie more times than he’d care to admit, and there was no mistaking him now. 

_ Willie. _

He couldn’t hold off any longer. 

Alex cast a quick glance around the hallway before darting across it, quickly closing the distance between him and Willie.

His heart was in his throat, blocking all words he had hoped to say. 

But, really, what could he say anyway?

_ I’m here. _

_ I’m okay. _

_ I won’t leave you. _

His mouth wouldn’t work through the panic though, so he settled for the next best thing. Alex slammed into Willie so hard that they stumbled a few steps backwards. 

“Hey!” Willie complained. Alex couldn’t see him anymore, but he could  _ feel  _ him — solid, and warm, and  _ real.  _ “Dude, what—”

With his built-up momentum, Alex dragged Willie part way up the stairs, desperate to get a second alone with him.

_ Just him. _

Willie stumbled a few steps away from Alex, his eyes wide, and his expression pinched with confusion, and—

They both froze.

Alex clutched the metal banister attached to the wall to steady himself. His legs were weak beneath him. His head was spinning. He couldn’t catch his breath.

_ But it was okay. _

Willie stood directly in front of him — once again, so close and yet  _ so far.  _ They had broken apart once they moved up the stairs, and Alex  _ missed  _ his warmth. And Willie—

He stood against the opposite wall, his eyes wide and jaw dropped. His chest had stilled and the blood had drained from his cheeks. His body was petrified with shock — an eerie echo to Alex’s only moments before, when he first caught sight of Willie behind Caleb.

For a long moment, neither of them moved.

They breathed.

And stared.

And waited.

_ And waited, and waited, and— _

They met each other in the middle for a frantic embrace, full of bumping limbs and breathless laughs. 

Alex’s chest nearly caved in on itself from how  _ much  _ he was feeling in that moment. The emotions that engulfed him now were so drastically different than the ones he felt earlier that it made him feel  _ dizzy. _

That panic, that frenzy, that worry — it all melted away to something softer, something sweeter.

_ It was because of Willie. _

He clung to Willie as hard as Willie clung to him, as if their tight grips would be enough to save them from the storm on the horizon, as if their embrace would stop the time from slipping between their fingers.

He wanted to stay like this forever. 

They should’ve had forever, but  _ they didn’t.  _ They only had mere minutes, and that wasn’t enough — it would never be enough.

“You’re here,” Willie said, his voice shaking. Alex was pressed so tightly to him that he could  _ feel  _ the vibrations of his voice in his chest. He could only hold him tighter. “I thought— You were— The Orpheum—”

“I didn’t cross over,” he responded. 

“But… the stamp? The jolts? I thought… If you didn’t cross over, I thought—”

He didn’t need to finish. Alex already knew.

_ If he didn’t cross over, they both thought he would’ve died for good. _

“I know.  _ I know.”  _ Willie buried his nose into his shoulder and sucked in breath after breath. Alex grasped the back of Willie’s suit jacket and held tight, knowing that they  _ both  _ needed to be held in that moment. “I didn’t though — I’m okay.”

“How?”

“Julie. She saved us.” 

Alex pulled back, his heart in his throat. He wanted to tell him all about it — about the show, about Julie, about all the little moments between then and now, but—

He couldn’t. 

_ They were running out of time. _

The panic Alex felt that came with the thought of ticking time was mirrored by Willie. He jolted out of the embrace, his eyes wide again and his lips pressed into a thin line. His gaze darted towards the mouth of the staircase and his hands tightened on Alex’s sleeves.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Willie said, his voice dipping to a whisper. “If Caleb were to see you—”

“He didn’t. He won’t.” Alex didn’t believe that as much as he tried to convince Willie he did. He was  _ terrified  _ of being caught by Caleb. They escaped from him once — they both knew they wouldn’t get so lucky a second time.  _ But he had to be strong for Willie.  _ He wanted to be strong for Willie. “I came for you, Willie. Of course, I came for you.”

_ There was so much honesty in those words that it made him feel as though his heart was cracking in two. _

Willie’s gaze shot to his again. There was a tenderness there that wasn’t there a moment before. The panic had softened — quieted by—

_ By what? _

Their friendship?

(His heart ached from how much he wished it was from something more than that.)

“I… You shouldn’t have.” Before Alex could even imagine being stung by Willie’s words, he continued. “I don’t want you to get hurt.  _ Never.  _ You need to go and you— you need to stay away, okay?”

“I can’t do that.”

“You have to.  _ You have to, Alex,  _ because— I— I—” They both paused. Alex’s heart was pounding against his ribs. “The club is dangerous.”

“I needed to see you,” Alex argued. “I needed to know you were okay. I was so worried when I didn’t see you after our performance and—”

“I wanted to swing by the garage, I did, but… Caleb is keeping a tighter hold on all of us now. That’s why I couldn’t visit.” His expression fell. “That’s why I  _ can’t  _ visit — and you can’t come back here either, okay? It’s too dangerous for you to come here. It’s not worth it.”

“No,” Alex said, his voice firm. “No, you’re worth it, Willie.  _ You’re worth it.” _

Alex didn’t know why he was being so open right now — maybe it was because of the adrenaline in his veins, or maybe it was because he didn’t want to live (or whatever the ghostly equivalent was) another day without Willie knowing exactly how he felt, or maybe it was from something else entirely.

It didn’t matter.

_ All that mattered was this;  _ the feeling of Willie’s hands on his arms, the rightness in his chest that came with being at his side, and the desperation for that feeling to stay.

“Listen, I only have a few minutes. Luke and Reggie—”

“They’re here too?” Willie looked distressed at this. Alex’s chest squeezed.

“They’ll always have my back; breaking into and destroying a piece of Caleb’s club is no exception.” The laugh that followed was forced and shallow. “We’re all going to figure a way to get you out of this, okay? Julie, Luke, Reggie, and I — we’re going to figure out a way to break Caleb’s hold on you. Julie did with us and the stamps; we can do it again.”

Willie’s expression flickered. He looked away. His throat bobbed.

“Alex…” he breathed, “I can’t ask for you to—”

“You’re not. We’re doing it. Because that’s what friends do.” 

_ Friends. _

That didn’t even begin to cover what they were.

_ How could he find the words to tell Willie that he wanted to be so much more than just friends? _

“I don’t know how to break Caleb’s hold on you now, but I’m going to figure it out,” Alex promised him. “And when I do, I’m coming back here to  _ get you.  _ I’m not abandoning you.  _ I’d never do that.”  _ The corners of his lips tugged up despite the wave of sadness washing across him. “You’re stuck with me now, Willie, whether you like it or not.”

Seeing Willie close to tears sucked the breath from Alex’s lungs. He shuffled a little bit closer and held him a little bit tighter, needing the strength Willie provided him to just keep going.

Willie let out a breathless laugh and looked towards the ceiling, blinking back tears. “Who would’ve thought running over a cute guy would lead me to this, huh?” Their eyes locked again. Willie calling him cute wasn’t lost on Alex, but he couldn’t revel in it like he would’ve liked.  _ This felt like too much of a goodbye for that.  _ “You shouldn’t…”

“Shouldn’t what?” Alex countered. “I shouldn’t try to help you? I shouldn’t try to figure out a way to get you out of here? I shouldn’t—”

_ “Yes,”  _ Willie hissed. He let out a choked sound. “I’m  _ stuck  _ here. Okay? It sucks, but that’s just how it is. It’s too late for me.  _ But it isn’t too late for you.  _ You—  _ god—  _ you need to stay away.  _ Please.”  _ Alex’s chest was caving in. Despite  _ knowing  _ Willie was telling him this for his own safety,  _ hearing  _ him beg him to stay away from him  _ hurt.  _ “I am not going to be the reason that you’re stuck here. I don’t want to be the thing holding you back.”

Alex’s voice failed him again. All he could do was shake his head and  _ hope  _ with everything in him that he’d understand.

When their gazes were drawn back together again, Alex was left breathless from the intensity behind Willie’s.

Willie swallowed thickly. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to forget we ever met?” His eyes squeezed shut, as if he was in pain. “Wouldn’t it be easier to forget  _ me?” _

His heart gave a painful lurch.

“Forget you?” Alex echoed, horrified. 

He stumbled over his words, trying to pick the right ones, but—  _ how could he ever find the right words when he doubted their existence?  _ How was he meant to capture everything he felt in that moment and put it into something as simple as  _ words  _ when it felt as complex and widespread as the universe itself?

_ Describing how he felt for Willie was beyond the limits of words. _

“Willie,” he said simply. Something settled in his chest. He let out a ragged breath.  _ “Willie.  _ I could  _ never  _ just forget you. Not when you make me feel like I’m alive again. Not when I haven't felt so right about anything else in my life.” Alex searched his eyes, drinking in all the emotions housed in them. There was a pause, then, “You don’t  _ get it,  _ do you? You’re not replaceable, Willie. You’re not just  _ someone. _ You’re  _ it.  _ You’re my  _ friend.  _ You’re—”

_ You’re more than that. _

Alex licked his lips. 

His chest heaved. 

He was teetering on the edge of a knife and—

_ He didn’t do it. _

Still, he continued speaking. 

“You make me want to be a better person. You make me feel like everything is possible — and that’s why I  _ know _ we can do this. I know I will get you out.  _ I know it.  _ Because…” Alex let out a breathless laugh. With his voice raw and stomach swooping, he continued, “I can’t imagine a future where you aren't there.  _ I don't want to.  _ I want you in my life, Willie, and I want you to be happy.”

He was humming with energy, yet he slowed enough to drink in his details — the slopes of his face, the spark in his eyes, the turn of his lips.

Alex wet his lips. He must’ve been truly imagining things in his state of heightened adrenaline because he could’ve  _ sworn  _ Willie was staring at his lips, just for a brief second, but— 

They locked eyes again.

“I’d rather spend every day from now until I cross over trying to free you than forget you. I won’t forget you and I won’t leave you. Not when you’re this important to me. Not  _ ever.” _

Again, he was on that ledge, balancing—

There was something  _ pushing  _ him towards the truth. It was almost inevitable, the words that were to follow. It was as unstoppable as gravity itself.

_ This was it.  _

Alex let out a shaky breath and took Willie’s hand. “You’re  _ everything  _ to me, Willie. I  _ care  _ about you. I— I  _ like  _ you.” There. It was out there, finally into the world, finally spoken. A weight lifted from his shoulders and the words that followed were impossible to stop. “I’ve liked you since the moment I dinged your board. I’ve liked you through it all — screaming in museums, and dancing at Caleb’s club, and stealing vans. Even when I was dying and we weren’t speaking,  _ I liked you.  _ I still like you, Willie.”

Willie stood unmoving, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted, and it made Alex’s heart plummet.

He scrambled.

“I mean, I like you, but I don’t expect you to  _ like me back  _ because, ha, that would be  _ crazy,  _ right? It’s cool that you don’t. Totally cool. I’m cool. Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t even matter because—”

“Alex?”

That was enough to cause Alex to stop completely. 

He blinked owlishly at Willie.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.”

_ And he did. _

They met in the middle for a shallow kiss. It was barely a brush of the lips, yet it made Alex’s mind short circuit, and fingers go numb, and his heart leap from his chest. 

When they pulled back, they stared at each other, both with wide eyes and shaking breaths and—

The second kiss was slower and sweeter than the first, with Willie’s hands coming up to cup either side of Alex’s face, his thumbs brushing across his cheeks. Alex’s own hands grasped the front of Willie’s white dress shirt, steadying himself. There was a tenderness to the kiss that seemed to both crack Alex’s heart in two and push pieces of his soul back together.

_ He was so hopelessly into Willie, it was ridiculous. _

Alex never wanted the kiss to end — he never wanted this moment to end, and yet—

When they parted, both of their chests were heaving and eyes searching. There was an awed look on Willie’s face, with his lips pulled into a goofy smile and his eyes sparkling with joy. It made warmth burst across Alex’s chest.

Alex’s head dipped forward to rest his forehead against Willie’s. There was a moment where neither of them said anything — they simply  _ existed —  _ as if time no longer mattered. Alex wished he could stay in this moment forever — with his chest loose, and his heart soaring, and unable to keep the smile off his face. He wished they could just stay here together, breathing with each other, with no worries given to breaking spells and creepy magicians and—

_ “I like you too, Alex.”  _ Willie’s hands trailed down to grab the collar of Alex’s pink sweater — his touch feather light along his skin. “There hasn’t been a moment that’s gone by where I haven’t liked you — where I haven’t  _ missed  _ you — where I haven’t thought of you and wanted to be with you. You’re it, hot dog. You’re my  _ everything.” _

Even though Alex felt as though every string of words felt inadequate at explaining his feelings for Willie,  _ this sure as hell came close to being perfect. _ It left Alex feeling as though he could cross over right then and there. 

Alex’s eyes slid shut. A rightness settled in his chest and soothed his soul. The pure  _ joy  _ and  _ bliss  _ that crashed through him rivalled anything he had ever felt, and the  _ warmth  _ that seemingly burst across the palms of his hands—

There was a bright flash of light and—

He jolted away from Willie and his eyes flew open. The warmth he felt on his skin wasn’t just his imagination — it was  _ real. _

It was real and coming from Willie—

_ And it was accompanied by a warm golden glow. _

It wasn’t the first time that night that felt like déjà vu to Alex, but it was the time that hit him the hardest. It was there, tangled in an embrace with Willie in the middle of a dingy staircase at the back of Caleb’s club, that Alex was reminded of what happened after their show at the Orpheum.

The same warmth and completeness that rose in Alex that night — the same feelings of  _ family,  _ and  _ home,  _ and  _ safety  _ that saved him from Caleb’s jolts — those were the same feelings engulfing him again.

The same light that clung to him like a cloud of smoke was eerily similar to the light that clung to Willie now — bright and sharp, yet comforting in a way that reminded him of a hearth.

“Dude, you’re  _ glowing.”  _

Alex hesitated with his fingers inches away from Willie’s cheek for a split second before closing the distance. It was as though he was radiating happiness and comfort along with the light. He’d seen this light before, back when Julie saved them, but there was something so different about seeing it from this point of view.

It was beautiful, like a dream.

The purple mark that burst from Willie’s body and circled above them was just as familiar to Alex as the light was. His mind must’ve been several steps behind because it wasn’t until the purple mark had faded completely that everything clicked.

_ The realization hit him harder than a ghost on a skateboard. _

Alex and Willie’s eyes locked. His were so full of fear and confusion and — finally, for the first time — Alex was the one able to teach Willie something about the world of ghosts.

“That was Caleb’s mark,” Alex told him, his voice wavering. His mouth was dry. His palms were clammy. His legs were weak. And yet—  _ he felt incredible.  _ “How do you feel? Stronger?”

Willie stared impassively at him for a long moment before a wide smile burst across his features. 

“Yeah, I do.” He let out a shaking laugh and glanced down at his still glowing body. “I— I don’t understand. What’s—”

“Oh,  _ sweet,”  _ Luke said, jarring both Alex and Willie from their tender moment. Neither of them pulled from their shared embrace as Luke and Reggie came into view. “Dude, I didn’t know a ghost could save another ghost. I just thought that was a Julie thing.”

Willie looked even more confused than before. He turned to Alex for answers.

“You know how I said earlier that we didn’t cross over? It was because Julie saved us. We don’t know why or how, but we didn’t have another hot dog situation, so we didn’t complain.” Alex’s hand remained on Willie’s face, cradling his cheek with as much tenderness he could muster. He couldn’t pull away — he didn’t  _ want  _ to pull away. “But this— I don’t…”

“I’m assuming, uh… certain words… were said… and certain feelings were… uhm… explored?” Reggie pressed, looking as awkward as ever. 

Fondness filled Alex’s chest at that — his friend was so pure that he was trying to ask if they admitted their feelings for each other without coming right out to ask it.

“Yeah,” Alex said softly, unable to keep the smile from his voice. “Willie and I are, uh… Willie, what  _ are  _ we?”

“Can we do this later?” Luke asked, glancing over his shoulder nervously. “There were only so many toilets we could damage. I think we’re about to run out of distractions soon.”

“Yep, good call,” Reggie said. He held his hands up and continued to speak. “ _ But —  _ I mean, I’m just guessing here — but I think this probably has something to do with, uh, whatever you two love birds discussed.” He finished his statement with a wink.

He hated to admit it, but Reggie might’ve been onto something there. After the Orpheum, Julie saved them with her love. And this time—

Alex and Willie looked at each other.

A wave of understanding washed through him.

They didn’t have time to discuss it. Without Caleb’s mark, Willie was free, and that meant—

“Come with us,” Alex asked suddenly, still holding Willie’s face. His expression turned to shock, but he didn’t make a move to pull away. “You can come stay with us at Julie’s — she won’t mind. You can even take Reggie’s spot on the couch in the garage.”

“Hey!”

“You complain about the dust anyway.”

“I’m  _ allergic!  _ I thought  _ you  _ of all people would understand!”

Alex ignored Reggie’s complaints. It was easy to do when Willie was right in front of him, staring at him like he was the moon — with his eyes wide and lips parted and

“You’re finally free, Willie. You’re  _ free  _ to do whatever you want, and—”

_ He didn’t have to say anything more. _

Willie’s lips were on his without another moment of hesitation. It was a kiss that he returned eagerly. 

It was the most enthusiastic  _ yes _ he’d gotten in his whole (short) life.

“Of course.  _ God,  _ of course,” Willie said, breaking from the kiss. “I can do whatever I want, and I want to be with you.”

_ Those were some of the best words Alex had ever heard. _

He tugged Alex’s hand, leading both of them towards where Luke and Reggie stood. “Now let’s blow this popsicle stand before we’re extra murdered.”

“I appreciate the fact that we have to add the ‘extra’ in there,” Luke said playfully. “Is there a word for being dead-dead? Or is it just extra dead?”

“We’re going to find out if we don’t move,” Alex pointed out. He couldn’t even  _ pretend  _ to be annoyed with Luke, not when Willie was safe, and happy, and  _ holding his hand.  _ He felt invincible in that moment. 

_ Not even Caleb scared him.  _

“Alright, let’s go.”

They poofed out.

* * *

It was later that night, back in the safety of the Molina’s garage, that Alex found Luke scribbling lyrics into his notebook. The garage was relatively silent, with Reggie inside the house with the living Molina family and Willie fast asleep on the couch.

_ Alex didn’t need to specify what he was talking about when he spoke. _

“I haven’t said thank you yet. You and Reggie—”

Luke waved him off. “Are you joking me? Since when do we do thank yous?”

“Since you blew up the bathroom of a menacing magician so I could find my ghost boyfriend and bust him out of Caleb prison.”

The corners of Luke’s lips twitched up at that.

“Good point.” A pause, then, “I’m happy for you, Alex.”

They shared a smile.

“I know.” He couldn’t hold back his quiet laugh at that.  _ God,  _ he was so happy. Alex’s gaze was pulled towards Willie’s sleeping form and a tidal wave of emotions rose up in him. “I’m happy too.”

Alex didn’t know a lot of things, and that was  _ terrifying.  _

He didn’t know what broke Caleb’s hold on Willie. 

He didn’t know what was going to come next. 

He didn’t know what the future held for him and Willie. 

He didn’t know  _ so much. _

And yet—

_ Alex was so incredibly happy. _

He knew that, whatever came next, he was going to face it the way he faced menacing magicians — Alex was going to do it with his family at his side. And, really, that was all he needed to know that things were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: that final Luke and Alex scene was meant to be a Alex and Julie scene, but it just didn't work. it pained me to not include Julie in this fic, but I think it flowed better with Luke at the end. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Paw  
> Find me on [Tumblr!](https://pawprinterfanfic.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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